


Chicken Little

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s02e20 The Fall's Gonna Kill You, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-05-25
Updated: 2006-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-30 11:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15095981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Donna just knew something was being kept fromher at the White House, she just didn't realize untillater thateveryonewas in on the Chinese satellitejoke.





	Chicken Little

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

 

TITLE: Our Two Consciences: Chicken Little (1/1)  
AUTHOR: Laurel A. -- Love that  
feedback!  
SPOILERS: Everything up to, and including, The Fall's  
Gonna Kill You.  
RATING: PG  
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; Aaron Sorkin's.  
ARCHIVE: Archive anyplace, just let me know.  
SUMMARY: Donna just knew something was being kept from  
her at the White House, she just didn't realize until  
later that _everyone_ was in on the Chinese satellite  
joke.  
AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks, as always to Michelle, who  
totally sounds Midwestern, in spite of her protests to  
the contrary. 

This is the next installment in the Josh/Donna Post-Ep  
POV series, "Our Two Consciences" by Michelle Hoffmann  
and myself (although you don't have to have read any  
of the others to jump on in now): 

Roles by Laurel A.  
Masks by Michelle H.  
Donna Moss Talks About Sex and Joey Lucas by Laurel A.  
Josh Lyman Talks About Strategy by Michelle H.  
Late At Night In The Soft Warm Glow by Laurel A.  
Perfect Clarity by Michelle H.  
I Confess by Laurel A.  
Static Electricity by Michelle H.  
Change, Gratitude, and the Heartbreak Turtles by  
Laurel A.  
Transformation by Michelle H.  
Bast, a Bowler, and Bucking for a Promotion by Laurel  
A.  
Filibusters, Falls, and Feline Avengers by Michelle H.  
Take, Take Me Home by Laurel A.  
The Very First Lie by Michelle H.  
Reality Called by Laurel A.  
I Dream of a Dominatrix by Michelle H.

  


It didn't hit me until I was home tonight in the  
shower, unwinding from the day; but, there was  
something going on at the White House. They were  
keeping something from me today. 

I guess I sensed that _something_ was going on that I  
wasn't supposed to know about. But, you know how you  
think more clearly in the shower; things come to you  
easier and fall into place in your mind more readily?  
Well, it was right as I was rinsing the hemp shampoo  
out of my hair (my small protest to the ridiculous  
illegal status of marijuana), when I realized that the  
Chinese satellite that was falling back to earth  
really wasn't really wasn't the international crisis I  
thought it was. They were messing with me today.  
They were all seriously messing with me. 

As I was shaving my legs (selling out the sisterhood),  
I re-traced the events of the day, putting together  
the pieces of what I am pretty sure is a massive  
conspiracy. Then I did some research on the NASA  
website and confirmed that "space junk" and satellites  
fall back to earth on a pretty regular basis. There  
was nothing to worry about. 

CJ didn't really _need_ to see the fax. I didn't have  
to be concerned for some poor neighborhood on the  
outskirts of Zurich that was about to have an  
industrial crane-sized hunk of metal thrown on top of  
their quaint village. 

I've figured out that it must have started with Ed and  
Larry. They're probably still mad about the hard time  
I gave them on the research they did for their  
"Encyclopedia Britannica" presentation on India and  
Pakistan last year; which, by the way, probably also  
included information from Josh's 1984 8th grade social  
studies textbook. 

Coming down the hall, past the bullpen, they weren't  
laughing, as I had thought, because they were terribly  
misguided about the magnitude of the devastation that  
was about to befall some part of the earth's  
population; they were laughing at me. 

I wonder if it was something they plotted out in  
advance, assembling the compliance of every member of  
the West Wing staff, or if it was something that they  
came up with on the fly and everyone just has the same  
sick sense of humor so that they all played along; and  
played me like a fiddle. 

Josh was definitely in on it. He must have known  
about the plan to "let Donna think that the sky is  
falling so we can watch her run around like Chicken  
Little." I should have caught on to him when he  
didn't immediately laugh at my grand statements of  
impending doom and then chuckle as he explained how  
these things happen all the time. 

He didn't tease and he didn't banter, and I hardly saw  
him all day. He knows that he just doesn't have the  
self-control to fool me for very long. He had to keep  
it short and avoid me. Unlike Donnatella "I Framed  
Roger Rabbit" Moss, Josh has a terrible poker face; he  
can't keep anything from me. 

But, I can't believe I actually sent the fax down to  
CJ while she was in Babbish's office, where they were  
probably discussing something, you know, important.  
Although, from what I've heard about the guy, and  
assuming CJ was in on the joke, it must have given her  
some welcome comic relief. I can only hope that this  
humor at my expense brought some joy to those around  
me. Yeah. Right. 

And let me just state for the record here and now: I  
_knew_ Charlie wasn't annoyed with the Swiss. In  
fact, I happen to know that he is a big fan of Swiss  
cheese, loves the stuff, can't get enough of it. So  
there! 

And in retrospect I definitely had sensed that  
something wasn't right pretty early on. You know how  
sometimes you can feel that something is amiss, but it  
takes you a while to put it all together? Or when you  
find out that you've been fooled, duped, that the joke  
is on you; it makes you feel foolish for not paying  
attention to that little voice that was telling you  
that something is rotten in Denmark. 

Oh, they like to have fun with me, and play their  
little games. But, just wait until someone keeps the  
truth from them. Then they'll know how it feels to be  
deceived by those you trust the most. 

END

  


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